


" Till Death again do us part? "

by Erensbyotch



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Shall We Date?: THE NIFLHEIM+
Genre: "no homo" was never an option, Angst as well, Everyone is Dead, Fluff, Friendship, Loneliness, M/M, Queen Bianca, Romance, The Niflheim, also a prophecy because why not, alternative universe, because this is frekin nifhleim of course, nico is the darkness, pale ghost, siblings love, so everyone is alive??? idk its confused, will is the light, will solace is the sun of niflheim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 20:57:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5840725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erensbyotch/pseuds/Erensbyotch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Will wakes up inside a coffin made of stone, he doesn't remember anything of his past.<br/>When he manages to escape from the underground graveyard, he doesn't know anything about his future.<br/>And when he learns that he's the Sun of Niflheim, the land where everyone is dead yet quite alive, and the Queen's future spouse, he believes he can't get more confused than he is.<br/>But then, dangerous vortexes start to appear while whispers of an upcoming war may no longer and not only be whispers. Friends betray trust and enemies gain it. The prophecy everyone was sure to know may or may not reveal itself to have a complete different meaning. And a pale ghost that no one can see may end up being the savior Niflheim didn't know it needed. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Inspired by the otome game "Shall We Date?: The Niflheim +", pale ghost route. May contain spoilers of the game. But no, you don't get to choose what the character will do. Only I can. Sorry.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	" Till Death again do us part? "

_"The Niflheim"_

_till death again do us part?_

**_" So wake up_ **

**_Your sleeping heart_ **

**_I know sometimes we'll be afraid_ **

**_But no more playing safe, my dear_ **

**_I'm here_ **

**_So wake up "_ **

****

**_The Vamps, Wake Up._ **

 

 

When he woke up, he didn't even realize he'd been asleep.

All his limbs felt somehow numb and his eyes were blank. He could feel his pupils moving, yet he couldn't see a thing. It felt so _weird_.

Just as for the eyes, the ears as well felt blank. Maybe there actually was complete silence wherever he was.

The thought of not actually knowing where he was hit him so hard he could easily feel the panic explode in his body. What had happened? Who bought him there? _Where_ was there? _What_ was there? All of those questions flooded his mind, and he felt like he would have cried, or at least shaken, if only he had known how to.

_Deep breaths,_ he thought _. I should take deep breaths. I can do that, can I not?_

Because, of course, he was breathing. He could feel his chest moving, the air in his lungs, so he definitely could breath deeper, there should not have been any problem.

 Right?

He closed his eyes (or tried to close his eyes. At this point, he didn't even know which parts of his body actually worked and which did not) and tried to focus on his breathing. He had to calm down, or he would have gone crazy.

Of course he probably was already, but it was better not to aggravate the situation.

Breath by breath, he felt his whole body relaxing even though he didn't realize he was so tense and slowly, ever so slowly, he started to _actually feel his body_.

When he managed to move his right hand, his heart bumped with excitement. He could do this.

So at the end, breath by breath, limb by limb, he finally took control over his body.

He started with small, simple actions, trying to figure his surroundings.

Wandering in front of him, his hands touched something. _Solid. Cold. Wet. Rough_. He knew it was stone. The same stone he was lying on, probably. 

He tried to push the ceiling of stone, but nothing did move. Panic grew inside him again. He was locked. He was locked in a cage of stone, he could not see what was around him and he didn't know why he was there or for how long he would have been there or why would someone put him inside a cage such as this but then he wasn't even sure _someone_ had actually put him there for all he knew he could have end up there because of himself or ―

_Breathe._ He had to remember again to breathe. There was no time for panicking ― because he realized there was no much time left for breathing either. He could not waste it.

He tried to push again, with no results. He tried again and again and again, but nothing changed. Nothing moved. Nothing.

He did not want to give up. If he would have to smash his own head against the solid, cold, wet, rough stone, he was not afraid to do so. _Better to die trying to escape than to let myself die_. That thought was no new to him, even though he didn't know why. But after all that was hardly the time to think about his past when he might had had no future.

But it didn't matter how many times he tried to pull the cover, nothing ever happened. And his lungs were starting to hurt. He had to find a way out soon enough or he would have woken up for nothing.

And it was only when he started giving up that he found it.

Instead of pushing again, he left his hand on the stone in front of him, caressing it. He really didn't know why, maybe as his last melodramatic gesture ― but whatever was his intention, it helped him live.

Because by doing so, he felt a slight recess on the ceiling of his cage. And by pushing it out of curiosity, the cover actually moved.

When he felt it moving, he took the deepest breath. He survived.

He actually felt kind of stupid, wasting all that time pushing random points of the cover when all he had to do was push a determinate recess that was in front of him, but he survived nonetheless and that was all that counted.

Helping himself with the walls of his cage he stood up, and when he was finally out, relief did not came as he hoped.

Instead, panic grew strong _again_.

He found himself in a large room made as well of stone, lightened up by torches on the wall. And when he lowered his eyes, he finally saw the real look of his cage.

That really wasn't just a cage. It was a _coffin_.

And it was one of the many that filled the room. The only difference was that his was the only open one.

He rushed out of the coffin, out of that hell made of stone. Why was he in a coffin? Was he dead? And since he woke up, did it mean that he was actually _back from the dead?_

He was not sure he wanted to know the answer.

So he ran. He took a torch from the walls and he ran, through the only door and through the first corridor. He ran through so many other rooms that he lost count of them. Nevertheless, he kept running.

And then, finally, he stopped.

At first, it was so soft he thought he just imagined it, that maybe it was just an echo of his steps on the floor. But then, the whisper became stronger and stronger until it was no longer a whisper, but he could clearly hear voices from the other side of the corridor. But he wasn't scared, not even at first. All those voices sounded so cheerful, so happy, like they were waiting for someone important and couldn't contain the excitement.

That thought seemed odd to him as he got closer and closer to the voices. What would someone expect from an underground graveyard? ― at least, he thought it was underground. He could not know.

With the voices growing stronger, so did the far, small, almost invisible spot of light ahead, until he found himself in front of a gate. He could not see the other side as the light was too bright.

But it was light, so the boy passed it with no hesitation ― and froze out of surprise as he saw the sight in front of him.

A hundreds of people were looking at him, all dressed in colourful and  eccentric dresses and all carrying a torch even though there was still light outside.

Silence fell, and everyone stared at him in awe. And after a moment of delight, he felt awkward. Why were they staring at him? Did they know he was back from the dead? Were they ... _waiting for him?_

He was so confused, and lost. He tried to keep a straight face and force a smile, but he knew it was such a bad attempt it would have been better if he didn't do anything at all.

No one said a word for what seemed like ages, until a young girl appeared from the crowd. As if her red hair weren't enough for her to stand out, she looked at him with eyes so solemn he felt a deep chill within his body. That girl scared him, maybe more than the situation itself.

He tried to say something, but she spoke first.

« Are you the prince? » she asked, looking firmly at him.

He stared back in confusion. A prince? Him? He was already opening his mouth to say "no", when a sudden thought came to his mind. "No" became "maybe". He remembered something about a prince. It wasn't a true memory really, just a sensation. He knew there was some prince, somewhere deep in his mind. And his grave, well ... even if broken, it didn't really look like some nameless peasant's grave. Not that he spent too much time looking at it, anyway.

« I ― I don't know. I can't remember. I think so? » he tried, his voice more high-pitched every word he spoke. He didn't feel like lying. What if he wasn't the real prince?

Then, the girl came even closer to him, never moving her eyes from his. She studied him in silence, and in silence stayed the crowd, and in silence stayed him, too confused, too scared to dare to say a single word.

Then, she spoke.

« Does the name William mean anything to you? » her words sounded casual, but of course they were not.

He thought about it, and then ― yes. That name meant something to him, because it was the name he owned.

« Yes. That is my name. » he said, his voice calm for the first time since he woke up.

At those words, the girl with the flaming hair smiled and took his hand. Then, she turned to face the crowd and, with voice filled with pride, she shouted.

« THE PRINCE IS BACK. »

Then, she turned to him and bowed.

« Welcome to Niflheim. »

 

***

 

Will looked outside the carriage  he was travelling into. The sun was already down by then, and the stars covered the blue dark sky. He couldn't stop looking at them in amazement.

There were so many it seemed like the sky himself was nothing more than a shiny carpet of dots, but as hard as he could focus he wasn't able to recognize one. Maybe even the sky was different in this, whatever it was, Niflheim.

The red haired girl didn't give him any further explanation other than the name itself, then he was surrounded by too many people to even ask. And then again, he was alone inside a carriage without even knowing how he ended up inside it.

Everything was happening so fast he just felt more and more confused every second. He had so many questions inside his mind and such a need for answers, he could clearly feel his mind on the edge of a breakdown. Or a big, scenic explosion. He sighed. Worrying wasn't going to help him, not even a little bit. And even thought he was relieved not to be a prisoner on that cage of stone anymore, or all on his own, he still wasn't sure he completely trusted these people. He didn't know them. And they only knew him by name. Maybe it wasn't even him the right person to pick. Maybe everyone left and the poor real William who just woke up a little too late found no one waiting for him.

Great. Now he was feeling bad for someone he just made up in his mind. Way to go, Will.

He stayed like this for maybe another half an hour ― the "graveyard" was pretty far from wherever they were taking him, apparently ―, with his frown leant on the window of the coach. When it stopped roughly without a warning, his head slammed against the glass.

« Ouch. » he murmured, massaging his frown with his palm. Well, he might have just woken up from the death, but he still could feel pain. That meant he was alive, didn't it?

But that thought, instead of reassuring him, only worked on confusing him more.

Luckily, the door of the carriage opened before he could fall again in his perpetual state of confusion, and the face of the red haired girl appeared in front of him.

« We're here, sleeping beauty. You better hurry up, we cannot make her wait too long. »

And there he was again. Confused. He kind of started to wonder how it would actually feel not to be confused at all. Maybe people who weren't constantly confused just felt a big emptiness in their heart. He wished he could feel that emptiness too, at that point.

« Make _who_ , exactly, wait? » he tried, but no answer was given. She only made him sign of getting out of the carriage, without saying a word. Ever so helpful.  

Since he didn't have that much of a choice, he did as told to and jumped off the coach, a stretched smile on his face. Apparently, his beauty sleep hadn't been really restoring since he started to feel worn out ten minutes after he got into the vehicle.

She was waiting for him with two guards each on her side, carrying a lantern in one hand and a sword in the other. Will found it curious, but he didn't ask anything. He had so many questions he found useless to waste breath in similar ones.

« We're heading to the castle. And by doing so, we'll pass through the village ― everyone who wasn't at your awakening should at least see you. »

But her words hardly reached the boy's mind for he was in such a state of amazement he didn't even realize she was talking. His eyes were fixed on the little town in front of them, with its tapered wooden houses and the torches out every door. It was a simple village indeed, but Will could feel the atmosphere it radiated. It almost felt like home, even thought he wasn't sure what _home_ actually felt like for he could not remember it.

As soon as they entered, people stayed gathered around them. At first, it was just small groups of kids, then some mother joined as well, and all of the sudden Will found himself surrounded by the entire village ― again. He smiled at everyone. He patted a little girl on the head, and shook a grown man's hand. Everyone talked to him, cheered him and smiled at him so much he felt overwhelmed.

But it was quick. At first he stopped so he could have the chance to meet everyone, but then the girl started to drag him away. " _I said see, not spend the entire evening with_ " she murmured at some point, when he ignored all her calls to talk to a little girl who asked him to be his prince. Will didn't mind it, for she was so lovely he would have agreed ― but she was too young anyway.

He was almost out of the crowd when his eyes caught a hooded figure looking at him, but he didn't seem to share the same happiness as everyone else. He seemed sad, distant and grey like a pale ghost. Will tried to smile cheerfully at him, but received no answer. He wondered if the figure knew he was smiling directly at him, maybe that was why he didn't smile back.

« Hurry up, shiny prince. Castle's here. »

And with those words, his attention got caught again by the red haired girl and the enormous palace she was pointing to with her long finger.

Will sighed and turned his head to face the hooded figure again ― but it was gone, and all he saw was the crowd cheering him. There were many curious figures, but no one wore a hood.

And then, he found himself too busy trying to keep up with the girl as she passed through the solid castle's gate to look for him again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Wassup everyone? {｡^◕‿◕^｡}  
> creepy japanese faces aside, I really hope you liked this first, small chapter. Yes, /you/, specifically you who are reading these notes now.  
> I've been working on this for a while now, and I'm kinda proud of how this first one turned out.  
> Not being english my mother tongue, I apologize if there are some mistakes. I checked it, but one can never be sure!  
> As I said, this story is inspired by the otome game "Shall We Date?: The Niflheim +" that you guys should definitely check out if you like the type! Also, pale ghost is and will always be my babe. 
> 
> I'd like to dedicate this work to F., my wifey & partner in crime because she's the one who opened the magic gates of otome games for me and who's always there when I'm in need. Grazie babe ♡
> 
> (I don't know how long it will take me to update this fic, since this is my senior year in high school and I will have to focus on studying before writing. Or at least I should, but we all know I ain't gonna do that. Anyway, if you want to ask anything or just talk or tell me you want some pizza from Italy, this is my tumblr: http://redhlily.tumblr.com/) 
> 
> Also, if you're into slash (well you definitely should be since there ain't gonna be many "no homo" here) go and check out my matey's sterek fic ♡ http://archiveofourown.org/works/5532929 (shameless ads) 
> 
> I believe that's all now! 
> 
> -erensbyotch.


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